The Standstill - by Giuseppe Storti - Review by Maria Teresa De Donato

 

The Standstill – Anatomy of a Chance Encounter

by Giuseppe Storti

 

Review by Maria Teresa De Donato

 

 

To define this work simply as a novel would be, in my humble opinion, extremely reductive. Indeed, given its content, style, and the protagonist Carlo’s self-analysis, the book also takes on the characteristics of an essay with psychological and sociological undertones.

Carlo, a man in his fifties, is a model employee—punctual, organized, meticulous, and efficient—who leads a thoroughly ordinary, equally dull life defined by set routines and an alienating job. He identifies with the protagonist of a nineteenth-century comedy written in Piedmontese, “Le miserie ‘d Monsù Travet” (= The Miseries of Mr. Travet): “a bureaucrat, yet one with a soul always full of color and a heart in perpetual turmoil” (G. Storti, p. 5, 2021 – Guida Editori srl).

Every day, he takes the same train and travels alongside the same people—commuters heading from the provinces to work in Naples, the regional capital—all of them wearing the same listless expressions. He arrives at his office, clocks in, takes his lunch and coffee breaks, resumes his work, and—at the end of the day—clocks out and retraces the train journey home. In the evening, after dinner, he lies on his bed, stares at the ceiling, and reflects on all this nonsense.

Carlo is thus trapped in this “standstill time”—in a life that flows inexorably, day after day, yet where nothing new ever happens; nothing occurs to disrupt these rhythms or this routine, or to bring light and color to his existence—nothing to rouse him from this torpor, from this static and humiliating reality. His “standstill time” is also shaped by the fact that, having pursued a classical education and fallen in love with it, he lives his present life completely immersed in the past. For him, the “here and now” effectively does not exist.

Yet, behind this rather bleak picture—and this man who, in his own way, refuses to engage with real life by failing to live in the present—lies a heart that has remained young. It is a heart ready to beat strongly, to feel deeply, and to come alive as never before —provided it is stirred in the right way, in harmony with his true self, his nature, and his values.

The voice of a woman—someone he has never met or known before—speaking to him on a train catches him completely off guard, leaving him momentarily dumbfounded. Yet, it shakes him profoundly, reawakening dormant passions and feelings.

A whirlwind of sensations, thoughts, and emotions is suddenly unleashed within him: beneath that alienating daily routine lies a passionate man—one who dreams and desires, who is capable of love and yearns to be loved. The seemingly formless ‘outer shell’ gives way to a powerful emergence of ‘substance’—his true, deepest essence.

His “standstill time” suddenly—and just as briefly—ceases to exist. Yet, the ceaseless dialogue continues between the Heart—which longs to open up to the world and seize whatever opportunities arise—and the Mind, or Reason. The latter constantly drives him toward pessimism, dismissing every possibility life offers as a mere illusion. It is akin to an “armed conflict between two opposing armies” (p. 7).

This mechanism keeps Carlo trapped in an infernal labyrinth—a kind of limbo that prevents him from fully living and enjoying life, imprisoning him instead in “an eternal return of the same...” (p. 12)

His encounter with Sandra—a young woman he considers stunningly beautiful—causes feelings and passion to finally triumph over Reason, demonstrating, as cited in Ovid’s “Metamorphoses” (IV, 64), that

 

“The fire of love,
the more it is kept hidden,
the more fiercely it burns.”

 

 The most significant aspect of this publication is that Carlo is not merely its protagonist. He embodies the human condition—alienated from society, work, and the routine of a bleak existence—where, instead of fully enjoying life and actively participating, he remains a passive observer. He has no control over his life; he merely watches himself live. Consequently, life itself loses all meaning and potential value.

However, his sudden awakening from this “standstill time” leads him to realize that he is still capable of falling in love. The whirlwind of emotions and sensations—including erotic ones—sparked by his encounter with Sandra emblematically represents the human need, capacity, and desire to love and be loved. Indeed, Love alone gives meaning and value to our existence, bringing us fulfillment and making us feel truly alive.

“Il tempo fermo – Anatomia di un incontro per caso” (= The Standstill Time – Anatomy of a Chance Encounter) by Giuseppe Storti is a fascinating and profound novel. It invites the reader to reflect, engage in self-analysis, and examine the fundamental dynamics governing our lives—both as individuals and as a society—dynamics many may be entirely unaware of.

It is a beautiful book, written in a style that is simple and direct yet profound and engaging; I highly recommend it to everyone.

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